Apostle-class cruiser
 | This article is a work-in-progress because it is incomplete and pending further input from an author. Note: The contents of this article are not considered canonical and may be inaccurate. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. |
The Apostle class was a class of fifteen heavy cruisers built for the Urcean Royal Navy in the 1910s and early 1920s. Naval theorists in the early 1910s s perceived a need for an intermediate step between well-armed light cruisers, such as Urcea's Glens Falls-class cruisers, and the battlecruisers of some other nations, which Urcea did not employ. The heavy cruiser concept was born out of the need for a ship to counter other cruisers while still fulfilling cruiser missions, such as scouting and merchant escort. It was anticipated the Apostle-class would work in tandem with a larger number of Coria-class cruisers in some missions. The Apostle-class saw heavy use in the Great War in a number of uses, but it was considered one of the more efficient anti-shipping and anti-destroyer ships of the early war. Five of the ships were converted into Gabban-class aircraft carriers between 1937 and 1940; the remainder were scrapped after the war.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Apostle class |
| Builders: | PYC Limited |
| Operators: | Royal Navy |
| Built: | 1914-1923 |
| In commission: | 1916-1953 |
| Completed: | 21 |
| Lost: | 4 |
| Scrapped: | 17 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: |
565 ft (172 m) (p/p) 605 ft (184 m)(o/a) |
| Beam: | 58 ft (18 m) (65 ft across bulges) |
| Draught: | 17.25 ft (5.26 m) |
| Propulsion: |
Ten oil-fired water-tube boilers |
| Speed: | 31 knots (57.4 km/h) (30 knots (55.6 km/h) Hawkins) |
| Range: | 5,400 nmi (10,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 712 / 750 flag |
| Armament: |
7 × 7.5 inch naval guns in single mounts 3 × 4 inch naval guns in single mounts 8 × 3 inch naval guns in single mounts 2 × submerged & 4 × fixed above water 21-inch torpedo tubes |
| Armour: |
Main belt; 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm) forward 3 in (76 mm) amidships 2.25–1.5 in (57–38 mm) aft Upper belt;
Upper deck;
Main deck;
Gunshields;
|